Shaw History – Truxton Is In Shaw

Carter G. Woodson- 1538 9th St NW- House History

Continuing to recognize Black History Month, let’s take a look at the father of Black History, Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s home and office at 1538 9th St NW.

According to the DC Recorder of Deeds database on September 6, 1922, a single man, Carter G. Woodson purchased 1538 9th St NW (Sq. 365, lot C) purchased his home from Dr. Ida J. Heiberger, a white female physician. She attended Howard University for a hot minute in 1881. According to her Wikipedia page she graduated from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, in 1885.

To finance his purchase, he borrowed $3750 from trustees Julius I. Peyser and Theodore D. Peyser. Julius was the president of Security Savings and Commercial Bank and lawyer with Peyser, Edelin and Peyer. Theodore was his brother and the other Peyser in the law firm. They both were white.

October 7, 1927 he was released from the Peyser mortgage.

December 1954 the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, the organization Woodson founded, borrowed $10,000 from Perpetual Building Association. The document noted Woodson’s death and that the Association was the corporate heir.

He died in 1950. He did not seem to leave the property to his sisters or brother. His will appears to have gone through probate in December 1958 in West Virginia. But I couldn’t find the actual will for details.

Despite being dead he was responsible for a tax lien, well him and the Associated Publishers, Inc in 1983. Then later in the 1980s the Association got in trouble with the IRS and there were many IRS tax liens.

Black History Month meets Memory Lane: Carter G. Woodson’s House

I wonder if new residents and younger people could appreciate what residents in the 00s and 2010s had to deal with concerning a row of dilapidated Shiloh properties on 9th Street.

There was great excitement when there was rumblings that the National Park Service would step in because this was the home of the father of Black History and Black History Month. And then there was nothing. Then it didn’t seem the NPS was going to do anything with this property or the adjoining properties it owned. I also vaguely remember the NPS was trying to take over a private home on the corner that is now a restaurant.

Now there is a museum. I haven’t been in it. The one day when I had off and during their normal hours, the place seemed closed.

Carter G. Woodson House. 1538 9th Ave NW. Taken February 20, 2018

Carter G. Woodson- Black History Month 2026

What am I going to do this year? In previous years I have posted the works of Carter G. Woodson, former Shaw resident and father of Black History Month? I will do so again, but more of a hodgepodge with no central theme like his book.

CARTER G. WOODSON – TEACHER, HISTORIAN, PUBLISHER Source: National Archives NAID 535622

A few words of Martin Luther King regarding Shaw- 2026 Repost

This is a repost of an earlier post for Martin Luther King Day.

I have been looking for a speech I had of Martin Luther King’s made on March 13, 1967 for Model Inner City Community Organization (MICCO). Because the King Center is famous for cracking down on what they believe to be their copyright, I did not post the whole speech.

Back in 2008, I posted portions of the speech. I’ll repost it here.

Of course, we all recognize that if we are ultimately to improve psychological and physical conditions for minorities there must be total elimination of ghettoes and the establishment of a truly integrated society. In the meantime, however, all those working for economic and social justice are forced to address themselves to interim programs which, while not totally changing the situation, will nevertheless bring about improvement in the lives of those forced to live in ghettoes. And so, whiel [sic] many of those steps may lead to limited integration, those which do not must clearly be seen as interim steps until the objective situation makes a more fundamental approach.

and later

… Labor, Housing and the Office of Economic Opportunity, ought to work with the people of Shaw in developing, coordinating and concentrating their various programs upon social and economic problems of this area.

-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking at a March 13, 1967 rally for Shaw

Dr. King has become an avatar, where people have projected on their own visions of what he’s supposed to be and ignoring who he actually was. Maybe some organization’s crackdown on other’s printing his words played a part in that. Dr. King preached integration but it seems so many now are pushing for segregation and celebrating the ghetto that King wanted to eliminate.

Revisiting Shiloh Fighting Liquor Licenses

So while I do other things, like prepare for the presentation on former Truxton Circle filmmaker Eloyce Gist, on October 2nd, I’m fishing through my old posts.

September 26, 2005 I posted about a Washington City Paper article (link in post is dead) about Shiloh Baptist Church‘s opposition to a business across the street getting a liquor license. It could have been “Shaw’s Main Drag” by Arthur Delaney written September 23, 2005. Yes, 20 years ago, now making this about Shaw History. You whippersnappers have no idea how much fighting went into making Shaw what it is today.

Anyway, the business Shiloh was fighting was the Queen of Sheba Ethiopian restaurant. It appears that QoS has closed and has been replaced by the Silk Lounge. Eventually, QoS won and got its liquor license as reported in the 2007 WCP article Queen of Sheba Toasts End of Liquor License Battle.

I understand the issue with QoS as it was right across the street from the church’s entrance and was near the church’s child care center. But Shiloh also opposed the liquor license for an upscale and very nice vegan restaurant Vegetate up on the next block.

As I mentioned in a previous post this month, Shiloh fought against the development along 9th instead of leaning into it. I wonder if the church had figured out a way to remain true to its principles and partner with local business if the church would have been flourishing instead of floundering?

Shiloh Selling 9th Street Properties

HT to Shaw Rez for pointing this out on Redfin.

1530 9th St NW is for sale for a nice round $1 million dollars.

I occasionally listen to a podcast by an ADHD pastor of a dying California church. Recently on his podcast, he noted how dire the situation was (aging congregation, costs of operation, etc), went into some detail and said that some hard decisions had to be made. I thought of that when my aunt, a member of Shiloh Baptist, mentioned how things were there.

Shiloh’s 9th Street properties have been an albatross around their necks. Looking at some of my old photos, I came across one from 2018 advertising a concept Victory Village.

Well that didn’t work out. Going back to that podcast, in that situation the CA church had property that they ‘could’ develop themselves, but he pointed out they wouldn’t necessarily make good landlords. As a former landlady, landlording is a service that requires certain skills. Not everyone has those sets of skills. UHOP has those skills. Shiloh does not and has proven incapable over the past 30 years that I’ve been in the DC area.

Instead of leaning into what is going on in the neighborhood, Shiloh, for their own reasons, have pushed back. As a result, when the taxes become too much or too the property too burdensome scattered properties get sold. It was great when they sold properties to the National Park Service for the Carter G. Woodson house.

Shaw Rez pointed out that having the whole row of vacant properties would make a good development deal. The reasons why the church holds on to these vacant and crumbling properties would make such a deal unlikely.

Shiloh Baptist Church. Taken Dec 26, 2012

Shiloh has to make some hard decisions as their congregation gets older and lives further away. Nobody likes hard decisions.

It happened on the 600 block of Rhode Island in 1952, part 8 of many

This is the second look at 144-16-95 [Frank Ray, Melvin Clements; Loran Lovan Taylor, Roland L. Gay – Victims] for information about an incident that happened around the 600 block of Rhode Island Avenue in 1952.

We’ll skip over a few witnesses. If you want to read their testimony go to the link above for DOJ file 144-16-95.

I’m picking Buster Key of 1715 1/2 7th St NW because he seems to be one of the less than reliable witnesses.

INTERVIEW WITH BUSTER KEY

BUSTER KEY, 1715 1/2 7th Street, N. W., was interviewed on October 29, 1952 in Marion Court and advised that he has know the victim for several years and had seen him on numerous occasions in Marion Court. He stated that on July 13, 1952, he was visiting in the Court and at approximately 9:00 AM, he had noticed ZEKE in the Court. He pointed out that at the time ZEKE was not drunk and had come to a point where he, BUSTER, was standing and had given him a drink of wine from a quart bottle. BUSTER stated that he later left the alley and returned sometime in the late afternoon, at which time he noticed that ZEKE was sitting in a doorway on the west side of the alley at approximately 1721 Marion Court. He explained that when the police officers came into the alley, he was standing at a position opposite to ZEKE across the alley and that he had seen the police officers take ZEKE by his arms and walk him down the alley in the direction of “R” Street, N.W. KEY stated that at no time while victim and police officers were in the alley did he see any fighting or scuffling and that ZEKE was not hit by either of the officers during the period that he was in their custody, in Marion Court.
Continue reading It happened on the 600 block of Rhode Island in 1952, part 8 of many

1968 Map and Key

Part of 1968 map of Shaw showing Truxton Circle.

It happened on the 600 block of Rhode Island in 1952, part 7 of many- Smoke Drinkers

In part 6 I had the testimony of Frances Bernice Smith. There was a little something extra after her signed statement. The smoke drinkers were the crack heads of the 1950s.

FRANCES SMITH advised that near the point where ZEKE was sitting when the police officers arrest im numerous “smoke drinkers” congregate. She stated that these individuals always built a fire and for all purposes lived sleeping on the spot both in rain and snow. She stated that these individuals, whom she referred to as “smoke drinkers”were people who had no fixed address and who spent their day drinking a mixture of paint remover and water which they shook in a coca cola bottle until it turned into a milky white substance. She advised that they then drink this liquid and always appear to be under the influence of this concoction.

FRANCES SMITH commented that through instinct these individuals, if they are able to navigate, would disappear around the block at the first sight of a police officer entering Glicks Alley. She added they no sooner would the officers be out of sight before these “smoke drinkers” would be in the alley.

FRANCES SMITH pointed out that on the day in question these individuals had disappeared when the police officers first came in the alley and that none of them would have seen anything which had transpired.

FRANCES SMITH further advised that she had seen ZEKE drunk on many occasions in Glicks Alley, that he was in her opinion a “smoke drinker”, and for all purposes was what was known as a “lush”, She explained that a person who got drunk and either locked up or went and layed down and slept his intoxication off . She pointed out
that he was not the type individual who became mean and nasty when intoxicated and that she had never seen him in a fight or possessing any type of a weapon.

FRANCES SMITH commented that the following individuals resided at 1707 Marion Court, NW:

AUDREY WESTER,

EDITH JOHNSON,

SAMUEL BURTON,

THOMAS CHRISTMAN.

These people were contacted and advised that they had not been present in the alley on the day that the victim was arrested.

1968 Map of Shaw’s Junior High Schools

I could make commentary. But I won’t. I’ve lacked skin in this game for about 4 years now.